Hey Guys,
I made a batch of this about 2 weeks ago, but unfortunately my efficiency was ABSOLUTELY CRAP.
I scaled the recipe down to make an 18L batch (did maxi-BIAB on stovetop using 19L pot) but I only finished up with just 13L of SG 1041 at the end of the boil, thats just 47% efficiency.
Could anyone suggest how I might have got such bad efficiency?
The grain was cracked by my LHBS. He actually used a coffee grinder to crack the raw wheat.
Here is the process that I used:
Step mash using the following steps:
52C for 15mins
64C for 40mins
70C for 20mins
76C for 10mins
I dropped the bag and grain into the water (approx 12-13L) at 55C and the temp dropped to 51C, but didn't have enough water so I added 1L of cold water to fill the pot close to the brim and heated to my first step of 52C. I continually stirred whilst heating on the stove top to each step (I kept the bag off the bottom of the pot by placing a stainless steel steamer rack that had lots of holes in it on the bottom of the pot) then I wrapped the pot in towels to insulate it when it had reached each temp and left for the allocated times. At the end of the mash I gave the bag a good squeeze then sparged 3 times, placing the bag inside a collander in a bucket and using about 3L each time (a total of about 9L).
I did a 90min boil and gradually added sparge water to keep the wort level close to the rim of the pot, whilst avoiding boil overs.
I also made the mistake of not taking a SG reading until after i'd finished the boil, so I think I added to too much coriander 7g?? (enough for 18L batch scaled from original recipe). Tasting the wort out of ther fermenter it has a slightly strong ham??? sort of flavour but a quite refreshing tart after taste. It's not undrinkable so I will bottle this weekend and see how it goes.
Cheers
Simon